We who are strong have an obligation...

This morning my Bible study reading centered around Romans 15:1-2:  'We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.  Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.' 

Over the next few days, I will be hashing out this verse, picking it apart so that I can better understand it.  I invite you to join me.  Today, I am focusing on the word 'strong'.

My first questions to myself were:  What constitutes strong?  Am I taking measures each and every day to strengthen myself?  Am I strong?  What will make me stronger?

The 1828 Webster dictionary had much to say about the adjective 'strong'.  I read through the meanings, highlighting the ones that helped me interpret this Bible verse:

STRONG, a. [G., L. The sense of the radical word is to stretch, strain, draw, and probably from the root of stretch and reach.]

1. Having physical active power, or great physical power; having the power of exerting great bodily force; vigorous. A patient is recovering from sickness, but is not yet strong enough to walk. A strong man will lift twice his own weight.

2. Having physical passive power; having ability to bear or endure; firm; solid; as a constitution strong enough to bear the fatigues of a campaign.

3. Well fortified; able to sustain attacks; not easily subdued or taken; as a strong fortress or town.

4. Having great military or naval force; powerful; as a strong army or fleet; a strong nation; a nation strong at sea.

5. Having great wealth, means or resources; as a strong house or company of merchants.

6. Moving with rapidity; violent; forcible; impetuous; as a strong current of water or wind; the wind was strong from the northeast; we had a strong tide against us.

7. Hale; sound; robust; as a strong constitution.

8. Powerful; forcible; cogent; adapted to make a deep or effectual impression on the mind or imagination; as a strong argument; strong reasons; strong evidence; a strong example or instance. He used strong language.

9. Ardent; eager; zealous; earnestly engaged; as a strong partisan; a strong whig or tory.  

10. Having virtues of great efficacy; or having a particular quality in a great degree; as a strong powder or tincture; a strong decoction; strong tea; strong coffee.

11. Full of spirit; intoxicating; as strong liquors.

12. Affecting the sight forcibly; as strong colors.

13. Affecting the taste forcibly; as the strong flavor of onions.

14. Affecting the smell powerfully; as a strong scent.

15. Not of easy digestion; solid; as strong meat. Hebrews 5.

16. Well established; firm; not easily overthrown or altered; as a custom grown strong by time.

17. Violent; vehement; earnest.

18. Able; furnished with abilities.

19. Having great force of mind, of intellect or of any faculty; as a man of strong powers of mind; a man of a strong mind or intellect; a man of strong memory, judgment or imagination.

20. Having great force; comprising much in few words.

21. Bright; glaring; vivid; as a strong light.

22. Powerful to the extent of force named; as an army ten thousand strong.

 

So what constitutes strong?

A strong man is a fortified man.  He is well established.  He did not get this way overnight.  Just as it takes time to build physical muscle, it takes time to build spiritual muscle.  Building spiritual muscle results as we spend time reading and soaking in God's Word.  Spiritual muscle must be built so that when the difficult times come (and they will!), we can withstand.

Just as a strong man can bear twice his weight, a strong Christian will be able to withstand much. He will be able to endure and bear up. He will be able to stand firm. Not because he himself is strong, but because of the strength of He who resides in him:

'The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.'  Proverbs 18:10 'But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.'  Psalm 59:16 'He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.'  Psalm 62:2 A strong Christian can withstand attacks from the evil one, because greater is the one who is in him than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:4). A strong Christian will stand out, will shine as a bright and vivid light to all around him.  He will be a strong example for the purpose of pointing others towards his Father.  In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus said, ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

So--am I strong?

As Christians, we must ask ourselves this question.  We must evaluate ourselves, not comparing ourselves to others but comparing ourselves to the Word of God.  Where am I drawing my strength?  Is it from God's Word or from man's word?  Do I spend more time reading the manna that satisfies and nourishes or more time reading man's manna that eventually grows stale (blogs, books, twitter, facebook and the like)?  While Christian books have value and their place in our lives, they can never take the place of 'the One and Only'. 

Do I spend more time talking to God about my problems or more time talking to people?  Again, Christian counseling is helpful and has its place, but it should be used to direct us towards more time spent with Him and His Word...it should direct and guide, not replace.   

God does not want us to view spending time with Him a chore.  Nor does He want us to be guilted into doing so.  No, He wants us  us to want to.  He wants it to be the joy of our life.  And if we don't want to, He invites us to ask Him to give us a desire and a passion to spend time with Him.  That is a prayer that He wants to answer with a resounding yes!  And, as Beth Moore says, 'you can take that one to the spiritual bank!'  He desires us to spend time with Him because He loves us so.  Don't you enjoy spending time with the people you love?  So does God.

Lastly, I rejoice in the fact that God is the God of first, second and third chances.  He beckons us to come to Him, whether we have been faithful in spending time with Him in the past or not.  Oh, He can make up for lost time like nobody's business!  While we will never 'arrive' on this side of heaven, God's hope is that we choose to strive.  Strive to become stronger...strive to live more out of our Spirit than our flesh.  Choosing to strengthen our strength in His strength. 

¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  Phil. 3:13-14.